Sicily police are investigating whether the human remains found in a secluded cave on Mount Etna are the remains of a journalist who disappeared more than 50 years ago.
The remains found on Tuesday night are believed to be a man who died between the 1970s and the early 1990s. According to the police, the man is believed to be at least 50 years old, 1.7 meters (5 feet 7 inches) tall, and “has congenital deformities of the nose and mouth”.
He has always been wearing dark trousers, wool pullover, striped shirt and black tie. A plush hat and dark green raincoat were found beside the remains, as well as some coins made of old Italian currency lira, an Omega watch, a comb with a case, and size 41 Pivetta shoes.
The discovery was made by an official of the Catania Financial Police and his mountain rescue dog during a training in the area.
“The area is very isolated and we go there regularly for training,” said Lieutenant Colonel Massimiliano Passeto. “Thanks to the sniffer dog, the remains were found.”
Pasetto compared the mystery-nicknamed the “Man of Mount Etna” by the Italian media-to what one might find in the book of the late Montalbano detective writer Andrea Camilleri Something read.
“I have never experienced anything like this before,” he said. “All current theories are valid, and nothing is excluded.”
Passetto said that the cave on Europe’s highest active volcano is extremely difficult to enter. Whether the man entered voluntarily or forcedly, he may not be able to escape. According to preliminary investigations, the man did not appear to have suffered a violent death.
Since its discovery, the police have received several public calls, including those from the daughter of 49-year-old investigative journalist Mauro De Mauro, who disappeared in Palermo in September 1970 and the body has never been found. Franca De Mauro contacted the police after learning that the body’s mouth and nose were deformed, which was caused by her father’s injuries during World War II.
The investigation of his disappearance followed several different leads. One was that De Mauro was kidnapped and killed by the Cosa Nostra mafia because he knew the truth about the assassination of ENI boss Enrico Mattei.
“De Mauro is one of the theories we are studying, and there are others who have disappeared due to possible crime-related reasons,” Pacetto said. “But I repeat, nothing is left out at this stage.”
